Kategoriarkiv: EU Energy

Guardian: Europe will cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030, compared with 1990 levels, the toughest climate change target of any region in the world, and will produce 27% of its energy from renewable sources by the same date.

Guardian: Europe’s 40% emissions cuts target has set the course for a low-carbon future

Connie Hedegaard , the EU commissioner for climate action

The European commission outlined its proposals for climate and energy policies up to 2030 recently. These include a binding emissions reduction target of 40% from 1990 levels and an EU-wide binding target of at least 27% of energy coming from renewable sources. And on energy efficiency, the energy commissioner will first review the current legislation before proposing the next steps. But they will come.

Overall, these proposals seemed to have had a timid reception here in Europe compared to the more positive comments coming from international leaders. But these give us reasons to believe that the real ambition of our proposals and what they mean to the fight against climate change have been recognised.

The new York Times: For years, Europe has tried to set the global standard for climate-change regulation, creating tough rules on emissions, mandating more use of renewable energy sources and arguably sacrificing some economic growth in the name of saving the planet. But now even Europe seems to be hitting its environmentalist limits.

High energy costs, declining industrial competitiveness and a recognition that the economy is unlikely to rebound strongly any time soon are leading policy makers to begin easing up in their drive for more aggressive climate regulation.

Guardian: The European investment bank (EIB), the EU’s main lending arm, said it would stop financing most coal-fired power stations to help the 28-nation bloc reduce pollution and meet its climate targets. New and refurbished coal-fired power plants will not be eligible for funding unless they emit less than 550 grams of carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour (gCO2/kW), the EIB said on Wednesday, which could be met either by a combined heat and power plant or one that also burns biomass. read more

MEPs voted on Tuesday 16 April against freezing auctions of a portion of CO2 emission quotas, so as to boost the price of EU “polluter’s permits”. A majority felt that interfering with the supply of credits would undermine confidence in the Emissions Trading System (ETS), designed to cut greenhouse gas emissions. In a separate vote, MEPs agreed to temporarily exclude intercontinental flights from the scheme.

The EU’s flagship scheme for cutting carbon emissions suffered one of the most serious setbacks in its chequered history on Tuesday, when MEPs voted against a proposal to shore up the price of carbon in the emissions trading scheme.

The proposed reform – known as “backloading” – aimed to reverse the plummeting price of carbon that has resulted from a surplus of permits in the ETS market. If successful, the reform would have resulted in the postponement of a series of auctions of carbon permits.

Copenhagen has been awarded the EU Commission’s prestigious European Green Capital Award for 2014. The Danish capital is receiving the prize for, amongst other reasons, getting more people to cycle and for the city’s ambitious goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2025. More

This website presents up-to-date developments in climate and energy policies across the 27 EU member states. With a uniquely developed scoring method, it provides results in aggregated scores on a scale A to G, for all member states, at EU level, and for different economic sectors. The 2050 goal of near total decarbonisation sets the benchmark for an ‘A’ rating. Continue

The Climate Policy Tracker for the EU is a comprehensive review of policies of EU Member States that affect greenhouse gas emissions. It provides an overview of the policy situation of each Member State broken down by sector and policy area. In addition, it provides a rating to measure the impact of these climate policies via 83 indicators. The indicators measure whether policies directed at emission reduction are in place, and if counterproductive policies and barriers for emission reduction are adequately removed.

The Commission today presented its new strategy for a competitive, sustainable and secure energy. The Communication “Energy 2020″ defines the energy priorities for the next ten years and sets the actions to be taken in order to tackle the challenges of saving energy, achieving a market with competitive prizes and secure supplies, boosting technological leadership, and effectively negotiate with our international partners.

EU energy goals have been incorporated into the “Europe 2020 Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth”, as adopted by the European Council in June 2010. In particular, the EU aims at achieving ambitious energy and climate-change objectives for 2020: reduce the greenhouse gas emissions by 20 %, increase the share of renewable energy to 20 % and make a 20 % improvement in energy efficiency.

The European Commission today presented an analysis of the costs, benefits and options for moving beyond the EU’s greenhouse gas reduction target for 2020 from 20% below 1990 levels to 30% once the conditions are met. At present these conditions have not been met. This communication follows the Commission’s Communication on “How to reinvigorate international climate negotiations” and the Council’s request to present an assessment on the impacts of a conditional move to a 30% emissions cut. The measures taken to support energy-intensive industries against the risk of carbon leakage are also examined as required under the ETS (Emissions Trading System) Directive. The Communication shows that the reduction in EU emissions as a consequence of the economic crisis, together with a drop in carbon prices, has changed the estimations two years ago when the revised ETS was presented. Therefore in light of the new data, an analysis of the implications of the different levels of ambition as a motor for modernising the EU economy and creating new jobs by promoting innovation in low-carbon technologies is provided. This analysis encompasses the efforts required in the main different sectors to reduce greenhouse gas emissions beyond 20%, up to 30%, looking also at the impacts of these efforts and the potential policy options to achieve them. The current context of constrained public finances and economic contraction is also fully taken into account when assessing possible alternatives.

At the Covenant of Mayors Ceremony in the European Parliament, more than 500 mayors will sign the declaration. The Declaration commits them to analyse how much CO2 they emit at the moment, outline how they will reach the goal and evaluate their actions. They also commit themselves to raise awareness among citizens and to share best practice. The city of Heidelberg for example has reduced its Co2 emissions by nearly 40% in public buildings through energy monitoring stations and the ‘Energy Teams’ in the city’s schools. The City of Riga utilises the methane gas produced in the city’s waste tip to produce electricity and Antwerp uses

a refurbished industrial warehouse as showcases sustainable building and demonstration centre for citizens.

Local authorities have a key role in mitigating climate change. Over half of greenhouse gas emissions are created in and by cities. 80% of the population livesand works in cities, where up to 80% of energy is consumed.

New data released today reveals greenhouse gas emissions across the EU are in steep decline. Emissions covered by the EU Emissions Trading Scheme between 2008 and 2009 dropped by 11%, following on from a cut of 6% the year before.

This would be welcome news for the environment and provide a silver-lining to the grim economic recession that has contributed to the cuts, if it were not for one thing: unless caps are tightened there will be no overall reduction in pollution levels. Permits issued under the EU trading scheme can be banked forward indefinitely meaning they will sooner or later be used to pollute.

Overall there were 62 million more permits in circulation last year than there were emissions. An additional 70 million were released for sale in auctions taking the total surplus to 142 million.

The European Commission yesterday (9 December) approved a series of offshore wind and carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects that will receive over €1.5 billion from the EU’s economic recovery fund.

Six CCS demonstration projects were deemed mature enough to qualify for the €1 billion designated to support the fledgling technology

These include Vattenfall’s Jaenshwalde power plant in Germany, Endesa’s Compostilla plant in Spain, Maasvlakte plant in the Netherlands, Hatfield in the UK and Belchatow in Poland, which will each receive €180 million. In addition, Enel’s Porto-Tolle plant in Italy gets €100 million.

Our climate is changing. The scientific evidence is clear: our planet is getting warmer.1 Greenhouse gases (GHGs) – including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, and chlorofluorocarbons – are increasing rapidly in our atmosphere.2 Human activity such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation is a major source of these gases.3 But since we can’t see them, it’s easy to forget they are there. Out of sight, out of mind. And if we aren’t aware of these “carbon” gases, it’s easy to ignore the urgent need to reduce their emission. The Carbon Counter displays the running total amount of long-lived greenhouse gasses in the earth’s atmosphere, measured in metric tons.

This report is volume 8 in a series started in 2002, and will take its point of reference in the need for the development of a highly flexible and intelligent energy system infrastructure which facilitates substantial higher amounts of renewable energy than today’s energy systems. This intelligent and flexible infrastructure is a prerequisite in achieving the goals set up by IPCC in 2007 on CO2 reductions as well as ensuring the future security of energy supply in all regions of the world.

‛For the Commission action against climate change is a priority. This campaign complements and reinforces our political and legislative efforts. It makes clear to which extent we all are responsible for climate change and what individuals can and need to do to limit this threat.‛
President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso

The European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) is the voice of the wind industry, actively promoting the utilisation of wind power in Europe and worldwide.

It now has over 500 members from over 50 countries including manufacturers with a 90% share of the global wind power market, plus component suppliers, research institutes, national wind and renewables associations, developers, contractors, electricity providers, finance and insurance companies and consultants. This combined strength makes EWEA the world’s largest and most powerful wind energy network.